3 ultras killed, 9 cops hurt in gunbattle in J&K

18 July 2002The Pioneer

Jammu: At least three militants were killed and nine security personnel injured in a fierce gunbattle in Banihal in the Doda district on Thursday. According to the local sources in Banihal, a small mountainous township on Jammu-Srinagar National highway, a group of about ten heavily armed militants entered the house of a government official on Wednesday night. They held the inmates hostage at gunpoint for sometime and told them that they plan to attack the army convoy on Thursday morning. The police got the information about the presence oft he militants there and on Thursday morning they laid a cordoned around the area. The police said that this was followed by a fierce gunbattle during which the militants spread out in groups. Three of them took shelter in the mosque nearby that was gutted in fire earlier and was now under construction. They later fled from the mosque while others were hiding in nearby houses. After more than eight hours long gunbattle the police said that three militants were killed while nine security personnel were injured. The identity of the militants is being ascertained but according to the inmates of the house, where militants were hiding, they belonged to Jaish-e- Mohammad group. According to the local sources, one Army Captain Swami Raj was also killed in the encounter but the police and army did not confirm it.